Pharmacy and Hospital in Korea: Where Foreigners Get Help

What should you do when you feel sick in Korea?

Decide first whether it is urgent. For chest pain, a bad injury, trouble breathing or anything that feels life threatening, call 119, which sends an ambulance and also gives hospital information and advice on illness.

For a cold, an upset stomach or a minor cut, a pharmacy is usually the first stop. For something that needs a doctor but can wait, the international clinic of a large hospital gives you an interpreter during weekday office hours.

Save these numbers before the trip, along with the ones in the emergency numbers guide.

How do you find a pharmacy that is open?

The quickest way is the pharmacy search on the National Emergency Medical Center site, e-gen.or.kr, or a call to 119. Busan City points visitors to both for current pharmacy hours, and notes that the e-gen site is in Korean. The same service comes as a mobile app called Emergency Medical Information, for Android and Apple phones.

Busan runs designated late-night pharmacies. The city lists 20 of them across its districts, and most open from 22:00 to 01:00 every day of the year. Elsewhere, search e-gen for the area you are staying in.

Does medicine cost more at night?

Yes, the dispensing fee does. Busan City says pharmacies add 30% to the dispensing fee on weekday nights after 18:00 and all day on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. Questions about these fees go to the Ministry of Health and Welfare on 129.

Can you buy medicine at a convenience store?

Yes, a short list of non-prescription medicines is sold at some convenience stores. Busan City announced the scheme on 19 November 2012: 13 non-prescription medicines went on sale at retailers and convenience stores from 15 November 2012, so people could get them when pharmacies are shut.

Two points from that notice matter for travelers. Children under 12 cannot buy these medicines, and you should not take the fever, pain or cold medicines after drinking alcohol. Side effects can be reported to the Korea Institute of Drug Safety and Risk Management on 1644-6223.

Which hospitals have international clinics for foreigners?

VISITKOREA, the Korea Tourism Organization site, lists international health care centers at large hospitals, each with interpreters. All of them are closed on weekends and public holidays.

Hospital	City	English line	Hours (weekdays)
Seoul Asan Medical Center	Seoul, Songpa-gu	+82-2-3010-5001	08:30 to 17:30
Severance Hospital	Seoul, Seodaemun-gu	+82-2-2228-5800	08:30 to 17:30
Samsung Medical Center	Seoul, Gangnam-gu	+82-2-3410-0200	08:00 to 17:00
Seoul National University Hospital	Seoul, Jongno-gu	+82-2-2072-0505	09:00 to 17:30
Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital	Seoul, Seocho-gu	+82-2-2258-5745	08:30 to 17:00
Gachon University Gil Medical Center	Incheon	+82-32-460-3213	08:00 to 17:00
Kyungpook National University Hospital	Daegu	+82-53-200-6114	08:30 to 17:30
Inje University Paik Hospital	Busan, Haeundae-gu	+82-51-797-0566	08:30 to 17:00

The VISITKOREA list has more centers, including Korea University Anam, Kyung Hee, Inha University in Incheon, Wonkwang in Iksan and St. Vincent’s in Suwon, and several of the same lines also take calls in Chinese, Russian, Arabic, Mongolian and other languages. Call the center before you go, since the hours are short.

Which number should you call: 119, 1339, 1330 or 120?

Each of the four numbers does a different job, and picking the right one saves time.

Number	What it is for	Hours	From abroad
119	Ambulance, hospital information, illness advice	24/7	Not listed
1339	Infectious disease, travel health, vaccinations (KDCA)	24/7/365	+82-2-2633-1339 or +82-2-2163-5945
1330	Travel information, interpretation, complaints (KTO)	Check the KTO page	+82-2-1330
120, then 9	Seoul city questions in English, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Mongolian	Weekdays 09:00 to 18:00	+82-2-731-2120

The KDCA says 1339 calls are free only inside Korea. Seoul’s 120 line can add a three-way interpreter during a call, according to the Guro-gu Office page. To reach English on 120, dial 02-120, press 9, then press 1.

What goes wrong for visitors, and how do you fix it?

Every pharmacy on your street is shut on Sunday evening. Search e-gen.or.kr or its app for an open pharmacy, or call 119 and ask, as Busan City advises.

You ring the hospital international clinic on Saturday and nobody answers. The centers VISITKOREA lists keep weekday hours only. Outside those hours, go to a hospital emergency room, and call 119 first if you are not sure which one is closest.

After 18:00 the 120 line only answers in Korean. The foreign language service runs on weekdays from 09:00 to 18:00 and stops on holidays. For interpretation at other times, try 1330, the Korea Tourism Organization’s hotline for travelers, which you can also reach through an online voice call over Wi-Fi.

The convenience store clerk will not sell cold medicine to your child. Buyers under 12 are refused under the scheme Busan City described. An adult in your group has to make the purchase.

When this does not apply

This guide does not cover bringing prescription medicine from home, so check the Korea Customs Service rules before you pack it. Infectious disease questions belong with KDCA on 1339, not with a pharmacy.

Clinic hours, phone lines and pharmacy schemes change. The details here come from pages checked on 1 November 2026, so check the official pages before you fly.